Intense Violence in Middle East

Intense violence in middle East Bahrain, Yemen, Libya

REVOLT IN BAHRAIN - Bahrain at a Glance Bahrain is home to 1.3 million people and located off the coast of Saudi Arabia. It has been ruled by the Sunni Muslim Al-Khalifa family for more than 200 years. Bahrain receives military aid from the US, provides logistical support for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. Its oil-driven economy has created concentrated wealth, particularly in Bahrain's liberal, cosmopolitan capital city of Manama. Yet the glitz and glamour of Manama’s skyscrapers and shopping malls mask the country's grinding poverty and deep sectarian divides. The nation's residential communities are starkly segregated— Sunni Muslims, westerners, Shiite Muslims, and South Asian migrant workers (who are not citizens but constitute almost half of Bahrain’s population) generally live in separate neighborhoods. The impoverished villages and slums surrounding Manama almost exclusively house Shiites. Shiites are culturally and ethnically distinct from Sunnis, and hold different interpretations of their Islamic faith. The majority—around 70 percent—of Bahrain's citizens are Shiites. Although some sympathetic, progressive Sunni Muslims are participating in the current uprisings, the vast majority of protesters are Shiites. (A small fraction, including Rajab, are of mixed Sunni and Shiite background.) What sparked Bahrain’s uprisings? The Feb. 14 "day of rage" launched via Facebook by Bahraini youth was, of course, inspired by the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. However, anger among Shiites in Bahrain had been bubbling for decades. For the past several years, Shiite youth in outlying villages have organized small scale protest riots that garnered little media attention. In the early 2000s, some Shiite exiles returned to Bahrain after a new king instituted democratic reforms, including elections for a parliamentary advisory council. A few years later, however, the government resumed its aggressive censorship, intimidation, and torture of regime critics, most of whom are Shiite. One Sunni critic, women’s rights activist Ghada Jamsheer, was put under media blackout by the Bahraini government after blasting the regime’s Sharia'a courts in the Arab media. Time Magazine honored her as one of four "heroes of freedom" in the Arab world. In the later half of 2010, the Bahraini government escalated is suppression of civil society. Authorities reportedly detained about 250 people, used torture to extract "terrorism" confessions, and closed numerous websites, publications, and non-profits that had criticized the government—including Rajab’s Bahrain Center for Human Rights. "All the time there are articles describing me as a traitor or a terrorist," says Rajab. "For a human rights activist here, this is the environment." Faraz Sanei, a Bahrain specialist for Human Rights Watch, says that Rajab's experience is part of a troubling trend. "There are very few independent human rights organizations in Bahrain today," he said. "Most are essentially pro-government and are very close to the government." What do demonstrators want? Earlier this week, Bahrain's protesters were clamoring for equal political and legal rights, as well as protections against job discrimination. However, following the government’s lethal suppression, the protesters have hardened their demands. "Now they want to change the whole regime, instead of having reforms," says Rajab. "I don’t know how we can accept a leader who killed his own people." King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa

An anti-government protesters display their hands painted with the phrase Go out! during a demonstration to the presidential palace in Sanaa February 13, 2011. Anti-government protesters clashed with police trying to prevent them from marching towards Yemen's presidential palace in the capital on Sunday, witnesses said. REUTERS/Khaled BAHRAIN

Riot police move to disperse a protest in a Shi'ite village near Manama February 14, 2011. Bahraini police fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up protests on Monday in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital Manama, dampening a Day of Rage stimulated by popular upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Women mourn for a protester killed during a protest on Monday, as people gather at a Shi'ite village cemetery in Sanabis, west of Bahraini capital Manama. (REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed)

Riot police watch over anti-government protesters Monday, Feb. 14, 2011, in Duraz, Bahrain, outside the capital of Manama, shortly before dispersing them with tear gas. Demonstrations broke out nationwide in response to calls on social media sites for major anti-government protests. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Bahraini protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by police to disperse them in the village of Sanabis near Manama on February 14, 2011 during a demonstration called for on Facebook and inspired by similar initiatives which led to the ouster of the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. (AFP/Getty Images)

Protesters sit down after riot police released tear gas to disperse a protest in the Shi'ite village Sanabis near Manama February 14, 2011. Bahraini police fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up protests on Monday in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital Manama, dampening a Day of Rage stimulated by popular upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

The blood of a wounded Bahrain citizen is seen during clashes with policemen in Manama February 14, 2011. Small-scale clashes erupted in two Bahraini villages as security forces tightened their grip on Shi'ite communities for Monday's Day of Rage protests inspired by upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia. Helicopters circled over the capital Manama, where protesters were expected to gather in the afternoon, and police cars stepped up their presence in Shi'ite villages, breaking up one protest with teargas and rubber bullets. At least 14 people were injured in clashes overnight and on Monday. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

A policeman confronts a protester in the Shi'ite village Sanabis near Manama February 14, 2011. Bahraini police fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up protests on Monday in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital Manama, dampening a Day of Rage stimulated by popular upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Bahrainis hold up shoes as thousands of anti-government protesters gather at Bahrain's Pearl roundabout in the capital Manama, on February 15, 2011, following the deaths of two protesters in clashes with Bahraini police and sparking angry calls from young cyber-activists for regime change and a walkout of parliament by Bahrain's main Shiite opposition bloc. (ADAM JAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Demonstrators gather around the Pearl Monument centered on a main square in Manama, Bahrain, Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Thousands of protesters gather at Pearl Roundabout in the heart of the Bahraini capital Manama February 15, 2011. Thousands of Shi'ite protesters marched into the capital of Bahrain on Tuesday after a man was killed in clashes between police and mourners at a funeral for a demonstrator shot dead at an earlier anti-government rally. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Thousands of protesters gather at Pearl Roundabout in the heart of the Bahraini capital Manama, February 15, 2011. Thousands of Shi'ite protesters marched into the capital of Bahrain on Tuesday after a man was killed in clashes between police and mourners at a funeral for a demonstrator shot dead at an earlier anti-government rally. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Family members of the protester, who was killed this morning during police clashes, mourn at a hospital after receiving news of his death in the Bahraini capital of Manama, February 15, 2011. Thousands of Shi'ite protesters marched into the capital on Tuesday after a man was killed in clashes between police and mourners at a funeral for a demonstrator shot dead at an earlier anti-government rally. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Protesters with a banner walk in between traffic at the Pearl Roundabout in the Bahraini capital Manama, February 15, 2011. Thousands of Shi'ite protesters marched into the capital on Tuesday after a man was killed in clashes between police and mourners at a funeral for a demonstrator shot dead at an earlier anti-government rally. The banner reads, The people want to topple the regime. The peaceful people of Bahrain. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

People carry the body of a protester killed during a protest on Monday, as they gather at a Shi'ite village cemetery in Sanabis, west of Bahraini capital Manama, February 15, 2011. Thousands of Shi'ite protesters marched into the capital on Tuesday after a man was killed in clashes between police and mourners at a funeral for a demonstrator shot dead at an earlier anti-government rally. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Protesters set up tents at the Pearl Roundabout, a famous landmark of Bahrain, in the heart of its capital Manama February 15, 2011. Shi'ite protesters camped out in Bahrain's capital on Tuesday after a day of protests in which a man was shot dead in clashes with police at a funeral for a demonstrator shot the day before. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Protesters sit near a traditional Arabic shisha pipe as they camp out at the Pearl Roundabout, a famous landmark of Bahrain, in the heart of its capital Manama February 15, 2011. Shi'ite protesters camped out in Bahrain's capital on Tuesday after a day of protests in which a man was shot dead in clashes with police at a funeral for a demonstrator shot the day before. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

In this image from video, a large number of armored personnel carriers roll towards Pearl Square occupied by anti-government protesters Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. Riot police firing tear gas and wielding clubs stormed a landmark square occupied by anti-government protesters before dawn Thursday, driving out demonstrators and destroying a makeshift encampment that had become the hub for demands to bring sweeping political changes to the kingdom. (AP Photo/Tony Mitchell)

Family members and supporters of Fadel al-Matrook, a protester who was killed on Tuesday morning during police clashes, transport his coffin from the mortuary for a funeral in Manama February 16, 2011. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Sunni Bahrainis march and shout pro-government slogans during a rally in Riffa, a Sunni area south of the Bahraini capital of Manama, February 16, 2011. In the Sunni town of Riffa, home to many members of the ruling family, at least 1,000 pro-government demonstrators waved flags and held pictures of King Hamad in a show of support on Wednesday. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Bahraini anti-government protesters take a rest from demonstrations in central Manama, February 16, 2011. Protesters in Bahrain, emboldened by revolts that have toppled Arab rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, poured into the centre of the capital on Wednesday to mourn a demonstrator killed in clashes with security forces. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

A Bahraini woman holds a picture of Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Isa al-Khalifa as she shouts pro-government slogans during a pro-government rally in Riffa, a Sunni area south of the Bahraini capital of Manama, February 16, 2011. In the Sunni town of Riffa, home to many members of the ruling family, at least 1,000 pro-government demonstrators waved flags and held pictures of King Hamad in a show of support on Wednesday. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Hundreds of Bahraini protesters shout slogans as the attend the funeral of Shiite Fadel Salman Matrouk (pictures), who was shot dead in front of a hospital a day earlier where mourners gathered for the funeral of another comrade, in Manama on February 16, 2011 as Shiite opposition called for measures to establish a real constitutional monarchy in Bahrain. AFP/ Getty Images / Adam Jan

A Bahraini anti-government protester waves his national flag during a protest calling for regime change at Pearl Square in Manama on February 16, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Joseph Eid

Rocks spell out messages from Bahraini anti-government protesters near the Pearl roundabout Wednesday evening, Feb. 16, 2011, in Manama, Bahrain. The Arabic reads "Down with the gangster government" and "No, oh Khalifa". (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Bahraini anti-government protester drinks tea in a tent at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain, Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011. Protesters demanding sweeping political reforms from Bahrain's rulers held their ground Wednesday in an Egypt-style occupation of the capital's landmark square, staging a third day of demonstrations that have brought unprecedented pressures in one of Washington's most strategic allies in the Gulf. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Bahraini anti-government protesters take part in a demonstration calling for a regime change at Pearl Square in Manama on February 16, 2011. (JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

A Bahraini boy with his face painted in the colors of his national flag flashes the victory sign as he takes part in a demonstration calling for a regime change at Pearl Square in Manama on February 16, 2011. (JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

Bahraini anti-government protesters pray together at the Pearl roundabout Wednesday evening, Feb. 16, 2011, in Manama, Bahrain. AP / Hasan Jamali

Bahraini anti-government protesters take part in a demonstration calling for a regime change at Pearl Square in Manama on February 16, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Joseph Eid

Bahraini anti-government protesters gather at Pearl Square in Manama for a demonstration calling for a regime change on February 16, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Joseph Eid

Bahraini anti-government protesters prepare for a second night camping out at the Pearl roundabout Wednesday evening, Feb. 16, 2011, in Manama, Bahrain. AP / Hasan Jamali

A general view shows Pearl Square in Manama on February 17, 2011 after riot police stormed through the square firing rubber bullets and tear gas in a harsh crackdown on anti-regime protesters that left four dead, witnesses and opposition said. AFP/ Getty Images / Joseph Eid

ahraini army tanks take position near Pearl Square in Manama on February 17, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Joseph Eid

Military tanks are seen on the road to the Pearl Roundabout in Manama February 17, 2011. Police in the Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain attacked demonstrators camped out in the capital on Thursday, killing three, in a move to stifle pro-democracy protests inspired by similar movements across the Middle East. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Women demonstrators shout anti-goverment slogans after riot police drove demonstrators from a main square in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. AP / Hassan Ammar

An injured protester is rushed to the operation theatre in a hospital in Manama February 17, 2011. More than 50 armoured vehicles were seen travelling towards Pearl Square in central Manama on Thursday, shortly after Bahrain police cleared hundreds of protesters from the square in the early hours. At least two protesters were killed when police fired teargas and rubber bullets when clearing the square. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Tents at the Pearl Roundabout are cleared of protesters, in Manama February 17, 2011. Thousands of overwhelmingly Shi'ite protesters took to the streets this week demanding more say in the Gulf Arab island kingdom where a family of Sunni Muslims rules over a population that mostly belongs to the Shi'ite sect. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

A wounded Shiite Bahraini demonstrator arrives at a hospital in Manama after being injured by riot police on February 17, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Joseph Eid

A Bahraini anti-government demonstrator lies injured on a stretcher as Bahraini anti-government demonstrators take him to hospital in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. AP / Hassan Ammar

A surgeon leads a protest at a hospital after at least five people died and hundreds were left injured when police stormed an anti-government protester camp in the capital's Pearl Square on February 17, 2011 in Manama, Bahrain. Getty Images / John Moore

Protesters' tents are seen in Manama's Pearl Square on February 17, 2011. Two people were killed overnight as Bahrain's security forces moved in to clear protesters camped out in a central Manama square, relatives of the dead said. AFP/ Getty Images / Joseph Eid

Protesters shouts slogans in Manama's Pearl Square on February 17, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Joseph Eid

B ahraini anti-government demonstrators watch a soccer game between Barcelona and Arsenal on a TV projector while camping out in protest at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. AP / Hassan Ammar

Tony Mitchell / AP - In this image from video riot police firing tear gas and wielding clubs storm an anti-government protesters' camp in Pearl Square, Manama before dawn on Feb. 17.

Anti-government demonstrators run away after being attacked by Bahrani riot policemen at the Pearl roundabout, in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Police officers remove protesters' tents in Manama's Pearl Square on February 17, 2011. (JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

Bahraini anti-government demonstrators take an injured protester to a hospital in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. Armed patrols prowled neighborhoods and tanks appeared in the streets for the first time Thursday after riot police with tear gas and clubs drove protesters from a main square where they had demanded sweeping political change in this tiny kingdom. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A wounded protester sits in a hospital bed with shotgun injuries after at least three people died and hundreds were left injured when police stormed an anti-government protester camp in the capital's Pearl Square on February 17, 2011 in Manama, Bahrain. (John Moore/Getty Images)

A Bahraini anti-government demonstrator shows a pictures of a wounded man who she said was injured during the riot police attack at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Anti-government demonstrators on a street in Manama, after an attack by Bahraini riot policemen at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning, Feb. 17, 2011.

A mother holds her injured son inside a hospital after at least three people died and hundreds were left injured when police stormed an anti-government protester camp in the capital's Pearl Square on February 17, 2011 in Manama, Bahrain. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The body of a person killed during clashes between demonstrators and police lies in the street in Manama, Bahrain on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011. Army patrols and tanks locked down the capital of this tiny Gulf kingdom after riot police swinging clubs and firing tear gas smashed into demonstrators, many of them sleeping, in a pre-dawn assault Thursday that uprooted their protest camp demanding political change. (AP Photo)

Bahraini soldiers in tanks and armored vehicles stand ready Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011, near a main highway west of the capital of Manama, Bahrain. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

A Bahraini man mourns over the body of a relative at a hospital in Manama on February 17, 2011 after he was killed during clashes between opposition protesters and riot police. (AFP/Getty Images

Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, left, and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani arrive at the Gulf Cooperation Council "GCC" meeting in Manama, Bahrain on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Bahraini Shiite Muslims clean the lifeless body of Mahmoud Maki Abu Taki, 22, who died during clashes between Bahraini anti- government protesters and riot police on Thursday in Bahrain. Photo taken on Friday, Feb. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

Bahraini Shiites attend the funeral of Mahmud Mekki, 23, who was killed the day before during violent police raid on anti-regime protesters, in the village of Sitra, east of Manama on February 18, 2011. (AFP/Getty Images )

Relatives of Ali Massour Khodier, 62, who died during clashes between Bahraini anti- government protesters and riot police on Thursday, hold his picture during his funeral procession in Sitra village, Bahrain, Friday, Feb. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Bahraini worshipers react with tears and shouts against the regime during midday prayers Friday, Feb. 18, 2011, in the Shiite Muslim village of Diraz, Bahrain, as Sheik Isa Qassim, Bahrain's top Shiite cleric, called the government assault on protesters at Pearl Square early Thursday a "massacre". (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Bahraini Shiite women wave their national flag as they attend funerals of two comrades who were killed the day before during violent police raid on anti-regime protesters, in the village of Sitra, east of Manama on February 18, 2011. (JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images

Bahraini anti-government demonstrators run during clashes between protesters and the Bahraini army during a demonstration in Manama, Bahrain on Friday, Feb. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An unidentified Bahraini anti-government protestor is carried to a vehicle to be taken to a hospital after being shot during a demonstration in Manama, Bahrain on Friday, Feb. 18, 2011. Soldiers fired tear gas and shot heavy weapons into the air as thousands of protest marchers defied a government ban and streamed toward the landmark square that had been the symbolic center of the uprising against the Gulf nation's leaders. (AP Photo)

Hassan Ammar / AP Friends and relatives chant anti-government slogans during the funeral of Mahmoud Maki Abu Taki, 22, who died during clashes between Bahraini anti- government protesters and riot police on Thursday, during his funeral procession in Sitra village on Friday Feb. 18.

Hasan Jamali / AP A funeral procession on Feb. 18 in the western Bahraini village of Karzakan for Isa Abdel Hasan, who died Thursday during clashes at Pearl Square in the capital of Manama between anti-government protesters and Bahrain police forces.

REVOLT IN YEMEN The reputed home of the Queen of Sheba, Yemen has been at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East and Asia for thousands of years thanks to its position on the ancient spice routes. Full name: Republic of Yemen Population: 24.3 million (UN, 2010) Capital: Sanaa Area: 536,869 sq km (207,286 sq miles) Major language: Arabic Major religion: Islam Tens of thousands of Yemenis have demonstrated in the capital Sanaa, calling on Ali Abdullah Saleh, president for 30 years, to step down. This comes after mass protests in Egypt and a popular uprising in Tunisia that ousted its long-time leader. Yemeni opposition members and youth activists gathered in four parts of the city, including Sanaa University, chanting anti-government slogans. They also called for economic reforms and an end to corruption. Yemenis complain of mounting poverty among a growing young population and frustration with a lack of political freedoms. - The country has also been plagued by a range of security issues, including a separatist movement in the south and an uprising of Shia Houthi rebels in the north. There are fears that Yemen is becoming a leading al-Qaeda haven, with the high numbers of unemployed youths seen as potential recruits for Islamist militant groups. - 'Time for change' It was the eighth day of anti-government demonstrations in Yemen, which have been inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, where the presidents have been forced to step down. On Thursday, dozens of people were reportedly injured in clashes between pro- and anti-government activists. The US embassy in Sanaa said on Friday it had seen "a disturbing rise in the number and violence of attacks against Yemeni citizens" at protests. An embassy statement said the attacks were "contrary to the commitments that President Saleh has made to protect the right of Yemeni citizens to gather peacefully to express their views". The embassy urged Yemen's government "to prevent any further attacks on peaceful demonstrations and to ensure that all Yemenis, both pro and anti-government, have equal rights to speech and assembly". President Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years, offered some concessions after the opposition coalition started organising protests last month. He has agreed not to run for re-election and not to hand over power to his son. But while the opposition coalition has agreed to hold talks, the concessions did not appease everyone and the latest demonstrations have been driven by a younger group, many of whom are students. President Saleh has been in power for more than 30 years

An anti-government protester holds up a sign during a demonstration to the Presidential Palace in Sanaa February 13, 2011. Anti-government protesters clashed with police trying to prevent them from marching towards Yemen's presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah YEMEN

Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a protest outside Sanaa University February 13, 2011. Anti-government protesters clashed with police trying to prevent them from marching towards Yemen's presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Government backers chase anti-government protesters during clashes in Sanaa February 14, 2011. Government backers armed with broken bottles, daggers and rocks chased down thousands of pro-reform demonstrators in Yemen's capital on Monday, turning unrest inspired by Egypt's uprising increasingly violent. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

An anti-government protester holds up the Yemeni flag during a protest in Sanaa February 14, 2011. Government backers armed with broken bottles, daggers and rocks chased down thousands of pro-reform demonstrators in Yemen's capital on Monday, turning unrest inspired by Egypt's uprising increasingly violent. The writing on the flag reads, The people wants the regime to fall. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Anti-government protesters try to calm down a fellow protester throwing rocks at government backers during clashes in Sanaa February 15, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators and government loyalists fought with rocks and batons in the Yemeni capital on Tuesday in political unrest fueled by the Egyptian uprising. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Government backers chase anti-government protesters during clashes in Sanaa February 15, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators and government loyalists fought with rocks and batons in the Yemeni capital on Tuesday in political unrest fueled by the Egyptian uprising. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in Sanaa February 15, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators and government loyalists fought with rocks and batons in the Yemeni capital on Tuesday in political unrest fueled by the Egyptian uprising. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Pro-government protesters hold up posters of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh and national flags during a demonstration outside Sanaa University in Sanaa February 15, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators and government loyalists fought with rocks and batons in the Yemeni capital on Tuesday in political unrest fueled by the Egyptian uprising. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Policemen block government backers trying to storm the gate of Sanaa University during clashes with anti-government protesters in Sanaa February 16, 2011. Government loyalists wielding batons and daggers clashed with anti-government protesters in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday as unrest inspired by Egypt's uprising spiralled out of police control. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Government backers try to storm the gate of Sanaa University during clashes with anti-government protesters in Sanaa February 16, 2011. Protests against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh spread across Yemen on Wednesday with hundreds of people taking to the streets of Sanaa, Aden and Taiz. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

A government backer waves a dagger during a rally to show his support to Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh outside Sanaa University February 16, 2011. Government loyalists wielding batons and daggers clashed with anti-government protesters in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday as unrest inspired by Egypt's uprising spiralled out of police control. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Yemeni anti-government protesters stand near a burning vehicle during clashes with police in the southern city of Aden on February 16, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Stringer

Anti-government protesters and government backers face each other during clashes in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Anti-government protesters hurl stones at government backers during clashes in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Government backers hurl stones at anti-government protesters during clashes in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

YEMEN -Anti-government protesters (back to the camera) and government backers face each other during clashes in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Anti-government protesters shout as they hold up rocks during clashes with government backers in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Anti-government protesters assist an injured fellow protester during clashes with government backers in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Anti-government protesters (back to the camera) and government backers throw rocks at each others during clashes in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Government backers run over a road barrier as they chase anti-government protesters during clashes in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Government backers hurl rocks at anti-government protesters during clashes in Sanaa February 17, 2011. Hundreds of Yemen government loyalists wielding batons and daggers chased off a small group of protesters trying to kick off a seventh day of rallies on Thursday to demand their president end his 32-year rule. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

A Yemeni anti-government protester jumps to throw stones towards a police station during clashes with regime loyalists in central Sanaa on February 17, 2011. At least 12 people were injured and police fired warning shots during the fierce clashes, an AFP reporter said. AFP/ Getty Images / Ahmad Gharabli

Yemeni anti-government demonstrators, top right, and government supporters, hurl stones at each other during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 AP / Hani Mohammed

Y emeni regime loyalists throw stones towards anti-government protesters during clashes in central Sanaa on February 17, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Ahmad Gharabli

Yemeni anti-government demonstrators, background, and government supporters, hurl stones at each other during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011. AP / Hani Mohammed

Yemeni anti-government protesters throw stones towards regime loyalists during clashes in central Sanaa on February 17, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Ahmad Gharabli

Yemeni regime loyalists throw stones towards anti-government protesters during clashes in central Sanaa on February 17, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Ahmad Gharabli

A Supporter of the Yemeni government runs away to avoid stones thrown by anti-government demonstrators during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011. AP / Hani Mohammed

A Yemeni anti-government protester bleeds after he was injured during clashes with government supporters in central Sanaa on February 17, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Gamal Noman

Ahmad Gharabli / AFP - Getty Images An anti-government protester shouts slogans calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh as he holds stones in his hands during clashes with regime loyalists in central Sanaa on Feb. 17.

Yemeni regime loyalists hold up portraits of President Ali Abdullah Saleh on February 17, 2011 in central Sanaa, where at least 12 people were injured and police fired warning shots during the fierce clashes beween supporters of the president and anti-government protesters calling for Saleh's ouster, an AFP reporter said. AFP/ Getty Images / Ahmad Gharabli

REVOLT LIBYA: Blood Flows as Libya's Gaddafi Cracks Down on Protest The fact that protests in Libya continue despite the killing of at least four demonstrators since Tuesday suggests that Muammar Gaddafi could be facing the most sustained challenge yet to his 41-year rule. But there are crucial differences between Libya and its neighbors, Tunisia and Egypt, where the overthrow of dictators since the New Year has passed largely peacefully, and Gaddafi's regime is unlikely to fall without a bloody fight. Armed pro-government demonstrators clashed with Gaddafi opponents on what opposition groups had dubbed a "Day of Rage", Thursday, and the AP has reported dissidents claiming that at least 14 people have been killed in the clashes. The toll may be even higher. Unverifiable claims on Twitter, for example, include on resident of the eastern city of al-Baida claiming that 35 people were killed there on Thursday. Earlier in the day, hospital staff had reported shortages of medical supplies as casualties mounted. A near total news blackout and the regime preventing foreign journalists from entering the country has meant there's little independent — or verifiable — coverage of Libya's biggest protest in years. But residents have uploaded cellphone videos to Facebook pages, tweeted to foreign-based Twitter accounts, and phoned information in to Al Jazeera and other Arab satellite channels. Mobile phone service to Benghazi and al-Baida was severely disrupted on Thursday. The Libyan protestors' grievances closely track those in Tunisia and Egypt: Soaring youth unemployment, and the harsh suppression of all political activity under an autocratic rule which has lasted decades in the country of 6.5 million. The key difference, however, could be Libya's military, whose commanders are aligned with Gaddafi, who had been a 27-year-old colonel when he seized power in a 1969 coup. While Tunisian and Egyptian commanders refused to open fire on protesters or use force to end demonstrations, Libyan protesters are unlikely to find such sympathy from their country's soldiers. Instead, Libya's security police have shown their readiness to fire live ammunition, according to human-rights and exile groups, who cite videos posted to YouTube from this week's protests in the port city of Benghazi and smaller cities; that footage shows bursts of gunfire, as demonstrators flee a police assault. "The violence we saw in Egypt will probably be a fraction of what we could see in Libya," says Ahmed Addarrat, 24, a Libyan-American in Orlando, Florida, who is active in an anti-government organization called Enough/Khalas, comprised largely of second-generation Libyans, which began after Gaddafi's defiant speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York in 2009. Addarrat says he has received numerous video uploads since Tuesday from Libyan protesters, who say they fear fierce attacks. "This is not a case where the military will shift with the people," he says. The simple act of protesting peacefully, under those circumstances, is to risk one's life — and the fact that thousands of Libyans have been willing to take that risk over the past week underscores the depth of feeling against Gaddafi. Large crowds demonstrated on Tuesday in the Mediterranean port city of Benghazi, which has long been a stronghold of anti-government sentiment. Those crowds joined a far smaller demonstration already underway, called by some of the families of 1,200 inmates killed in a 1996 massacre in the Abu Salim prison. The resulting clashes sparked more protests in the cities of Baida and Zentan, as well as pro-Gaddafi demonstrations in Benghazi, Tripoli and elsewhere. Thursday's call for a nationwide strike and mass demonstrations could signal whether the protests can maintain their momentum in the face of the regime's willingness to unleash violence. Source : http://www.time.com/ Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi

Reuters Pictures A man treats an anti-government protester injured during a demonstration in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz February 18, 2011. At least two people were killed in Yemen on Friday when clashes broke out between police and protesters, witnesses said, and thousands turned out in Bahrain and Libya to mourn protesters killed in government crackdowns. LIBYA Exiled Libyan opposition groups claim up to 120 people have been killed in Libya, amid reports snipers fired at mourners in the eastern city of Benghazi. The estimated death toll is higher than figures given by Human Rights Watch (HRW), but the exiled Libyan nationals claim they are quoting numbers from doctors based in Benghazi. They say another 1,000 people have also been wounded during the three days of protests. HRW estimated the death toll at 84, a figure which was based on reports from witnesses and hospital sources. Those within the country say the current demonstrations are the worst unrest ever faced by Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has led the country for 40 years. The protests, inspired by uprisings in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, have been met with force. HRW said 35 people died on Friday alone with the biggest protest focused in the restive region around Benghazi, 600 miles east of the capital Tripoli. According to Alex Rossi, Sky News correspondent in Cairo, the situation in Libya was "extremely volatile". ::Arbor Networks, a US-based security company, has said that internet traffic in the North African country abruptly ended late on Friday night. :: Libyan authorities have also thwarted foreign journalists attempting to enter the country by refusing entrance visas.

Libyan pro-government supporters hold portraits of leader Moamer Kadhafi during a gathering in Tripoli on February 16, 2011 to show support for the veteran leader who seized power in a 1969 coup, as Libya braced for a "Day of Anger" following revolts in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia. AFP/ Getty Images / Mahmud Turkia LIBYA

Getty Images - Libyan pro-government supporters kiss a portrait of leader Moamer Kadhafi during a gathering in Tripoli on February 16, 2011 to show support for the veteran leader who seized power in a 1969 coup, as Libya braced for a 'Day of Anger' following revolts in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia. LIBYA

Mahmud Turkia / AFP - Getty Images Supporters of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi hold his pictures during a pro-government rally in Tripoli on Feb. 18. Kadhafi's regime vowed to snuff out attempts to challenge the Libyan leader, after an opposition "day of anger" became a bloodbath and two policemen were reported hanged by protesters. NO OTHER IMAGES FROM LIBYA NO JOURNALIST IS ALLOWED TO ENTER IN LIBYA AND TO REPORT THIS DRAMATIC AND VIOLENT REPRESSION

A presentation by Nubia [email_address] http://nubiagroup-powerpoint-collection.blogspot.com/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nubia_group_Powerpoint_Collection / The strong man is the man who can stand up for his rights and not hit back- -Martin Luther King,

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Intense Violence in Middle East

by Nubia ** on Feb 20, 2011

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Intense Violence in Middle East — Presentation Transcript